ridejocky
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 11:50:12 AM
Originally Posted by: thunderbolt85 

Yeah he did a good job with it, I wonder if he is going to put the stars in and just didn't have time to finish it before they had to head up there. FB page was saying they had just finished a refrub.



It looks great, but it does need the star-lights. I always liked white rim-irons too. Keeping the towers and booms lit is a hassle as you can't change tubes with the ride set up, you have to tape extra tube inside.

Doesn't seem like it, but the Skywheel has more tubes than the diver...

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swooper
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 11:54:39 AM
If I remember correctly
The sky wheel has 240 tubes
thunderbolt85
Tuesday, August 13, 2019 12:07:54 PM
Originally Posted by: ridejocky 

It looks great, but it does need the star-lights. I always liked white rim-irons too. Keeping the towers and booms lit is a hassle as you can't change tubes with the ride set up, you have to tape extra tube inside.

Doesn't seem like it, but the Skywheel has more tubes than the diver...




Always liked Strates with just green and yellow, what a glow at night.

The only other color scheme I liked was a green/white with green/white tubs.
Tornado
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 12:05:11 AM
if you look closely at the Sky Wheel pictures mgr Man posted of Strates at Erie county fair you notice what appears to be sockets on the wheel sweeps of where light used to be put or can now be put. Perhaps they will be added soon.
Also, are the lights fluorescent or some other kind of light? Hard to tell...
ridejocky
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 1:47:20 AM
Originally Posted by: Tornado 

if you look closely at the Sky Wheel pictures mgr Man posted of Strates at Erie county fair you notice what appears to be sockets on the wheel sweeps of where light used to be put or can now be put. Perhaps they will be added soon.
Also, are the lights fluorescent or some other kind of light? Hard to tell...



Yeah, the sockets are still there.

Hard to tell if they're fluorescents or LED. LEDs use less power, but they're more expensive.

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ridejocky
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 1:52:50 AM
Originally Posted by: thunderbolt85 

Always liked Strates with just green and yellow, what a glow at night.

The only other color scheme I liked was a green/white with green/white tubs.



I meant white paint on the rim-irons, not white tubes.

Yeah, all yellow and green tubes are my favorite. When I was on the show we used all colored tubes on the Skywheel, no sleeves, that's one reason it glowed. Diver was all sleeves.

I think later inspectors required all fluorescents be sleeved...


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thunderbolt85
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 7:12:19 AM
Originally Posted by: ridejocky 

I meant white paint on the rim-irons, not white tubes.

Yeah, all yellow and green tubes are my favorite. When I was on the show we used all colored tubes on the Skywheel, no sleeves, that's one reason it glowed. Diver was all sleeves.

I think later inspectors required all fluorescents be sleeved...




Yeah I remember when the inspectors starting requiring sleeves and we had to cable tie/tape the tubes as well, hated taping, cable ties that are trimmed always looks more professional.

On the Strates tubes, did he have a machine to make the lights, or did he just buy them. Thought I heard somewhere that RAS had their own machine, but that may have not been correct.
ridejocky
Wednesday, August 14, 2019 8:04:39 AM
Originally Posted by: thunderbolt85 

Yeah I remember when the inspectors starting requiring sleeves and we had to cable tie/tape the tubes as well, hated taping, cable ties that are trimmed always looks more professional.

On the Strates tubes, did he have a machine to make the lights, or did he just buy them. Thought I heard somewhere that RAS had their own machine, but that may have not been correct.



As I understand it, way back the big shows all had there own neon shops, but I don’t think anyone made their own fluorescents.

If you think about it, back in the day, every sign shop was doing custom neon, so there was a lot of talent around.

Neon is much more art than equipment...

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Bill P
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Wednesday, August 14, 2019 1:20:45 PM
SkyWheel with Strates has white LED tubes on the rims. All the green and yellow tubes on the structure are the old fluorescents. The signs have red LED pucks.
Tornado
Thursday, August 15, 2019 9:54:51 AM
Originally Posted by: Bill P 

SkyWheel with Strates has white LED tubes on the rims. All the green and yellow tubes on the structure are the old fluorescents. The signs have red LED pucks.



Thanks Bill P.

I also noticed they don't remove the LED lights from the rim irons while they are racked. Guess it saves some time and work by doing this...
This may be the reason for NO stars in the wheels (more time and work)...

Looks like the bull wheel and truss rods are the only lights that have to be put on and removed during set-up and racking. No way to get around that, unless you don't put them on!

No matter what its a GREAT looking Sky Wheel and glad its on the road!!!
Bill P
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Saturday, August 17, 2019 1:43:59 AM
The SkyWheel not only looks great, it's great to ride too. The boom is a little slower than the wheels so you get a little different ride every time around.
Hurry, hurry, Sunday is the last day. Don't know where or when it will operate next.
ridejocky
Saturday, August 17, 2019 4:18:00 AM
Originally Posted by: Bill P 

The SkyWheel not only looks great, it's great to ride too. The boom is a little slower than the wheels so you get a little different ride every time around.
Hurry, hurry, Sunday is the last day. Don't know where or when it will operate next.



It surprises a lot of people what a thrill-ride it is, but particularly if they've never ridden it and you don't get the "drop" until the fourth time around. They're often expecting a Ferris wheel experience...

Another fun ride to run if the console is on the trailer and you don't have to buck tubs. Bucking tubs is fun too (hand's down best leg-shots on the midway) but not if you have to do both...
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Bill P
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Sunday, August 18, 2019 12:02:43 AM
News article in Sunday August 18 Buffalo News about Erie County Fair Sky Wheel:

https://buffalonews.com/...rce=home&utm_medium= 
thunderbolt85
Monday, August 19, 2019 6:50:37 AM
Originally Posted by: Bill P 

News article in Sunday August 18 Buffalo News about Erie County Fair Sky Wheel:

https://buffalonews.com/...rce=home&utm_medium= 




Yeah, good story and Sky Wheel seems as if it was a major hit, article said long lines during the fair. Maybe in the future Strates can bring it back every now and then, although the FB page said as of right now this was a one time special.
thunderbolt85
Monday, August 19, 2019 2:45:25 PM
Its great to hear they broke attendance/revenue records at the fair this year.

There is an interesting video on the Fair FB page with someone riding a golf cart around this morning early during tear down after sun up (sorry unable to post link).

Help must be bad this year, some of the bigger rides were still a good ways along on tear down, looked the Pirate hadn't even been touched save for a few parts. But I am sure the experienced folks over there will get her done and ready to open in Vermont.

You can see a lot of rides racked already, taking down the Giant Wheel towers, T-Bolt, Music Express, and Himi about half way or more, Strates coaster had a lot down as well, most kiddies packed up.
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